Place-based collaboration: building our Theories of Change
This month marks an important milestone in our Neighbourhood to National strategy. We’ve brought each of our three Collaboration Partnerships – in Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire and West Midlands - together to start developing their Theory of Change: a shared understanding of what change they want to see, what it will take to get there, and how they’ll work together to make it happen.
What struck me most across these workshops was just how distinct each Partnership is. They’re united by the same ambition - ensuring no child’s success is limited by their social or economic background - but each place brings its own relationships, challenges, strengths and opportunities. That distinctiveness isn’t a complication; it’s the point. Place-based systems change has to be rooted in local reality to mean anything.
That’s why this stage of the work matters so much. Creating space for people to reflect together, speak honestly about what’s getting in the way, and think collectively about where change can happen is incredibly valuable – and genuinely rare. In busy day-to-day roles, those deeper conversations are easily crowded out. When people do get that space, it can be both energising and grounding: a chance to reconnect with the scale of the challenge and with the real possibility of progress.
These workshops are the beginning of something. They’ve already surfaced an important insight: that how these Partnerships work together matters just as much as why they work together. The Theories of Change they’re developing won’t be one-off documents – they’ll be living frameworks, helping each Partnership stay focused on what matters most: building trust, maintaining clarity and holding shared accountability for long-term systems-change.
Attendees at our FEA member listening event in South Yorkshire
What this means for FEA members
This work is still in its early stages, and that’s deliberate – we want members to be part of shaping it, not just informed about it after the fact.
Some of you have already taken part in initial listening sessions with our team (as shown in the photos above), and for those who haven't yet, there will be more opportunities to feed in over the coming months. We're committed to ensuring that members' on-the-ground expertise, convening power, and relationships with young people are woven into this work from the outset.
We'll be sharing more about how members can get involved as the Partnerships develop.
Watch this space.
